A Virginia Tech official in 2006 praised the defeat of a proposal to allow students with state-issued concealed handgun permits to carry their handguns on college campuses in Virginia. At least 20 unarmed students were killed on the VA Tech campus Monday morning by a single gunman. Virginia House Bill 1572 was proposed in 2005 by Shenandoah County, Va., Republican Del. Todd Gilbert after a VA Tech student with a state-issued concealed handgun permit was arrested and charged only with "unlawfully" carrying a handgun on campus. The bill would have prohibited state universities in Virginia from enacting "rules or regulations limiting or abridging the ability of a student who possesses a valid concealed handgun permit ... from lawfully carrying a concealed handgun."

After the proposal died in the state's House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety, The Roanoke Times quoted VA Tech spokesman Larry Hincker as celebrating the defeat of the bill. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions," Hincker said on Jan. 31, 2006, "because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

Following Monday's multiple-victim shooting at VA Tech, Erich Pratt with Virginia-based Gun Owners of America called that philosophy "idiocy." "I think gun control advocates will say, 'See, we need more gun control,' even though this is exactly the product of gun control," Pratt said.

Currently, only Utah has a statute specifically authorizing law-abiding individuals with concealed handgun permits to possess their firearms on state university property. Most other states have explicit or implied prohibitions. "Every school campus [other than those in Utah] in this nation is a 'gun free zone,' supposedly," Pratt bemoaned. "But, isn't it amazing that criminals, bad guys never obey those laws."

Regarding Utah, Pratt adds, "Isn't it interesting that that's the one state where we haven't heard of any school shootings." At least two school shootings have been stopped by armed civilians before police arrived:

· January 9, 2002, Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Va. - 43 year old Peter Odighizuwa, who had flunked out of the small law school earlier in the week killed three people and wounded three others. Two law students - Tracy Bridges and Ted Besen - retreived a handgun from Bridges' vehicle and held Odighizuwa at gun point for several minutes before police arrived. (Bridges was a reserve deputy sheriff, but was not on duty at the time of the incident.)

· October 1, 1997, Pearl High School, Pearl, Ms. - 16 year old Luke Woodham carried a rifle onto the school campus, killed his ex-girlfriend and one of her friends and wounded seven other people. Assisstant Principal Joel Myrick retreived a handgun from his truck and held Woodham for police. It was later learned that the teeneager had beaten and stabbed his own mother to death before the attack at the school.

Pratt is not optimistic, however, that lawmakers will allow public university students and faculty members to protect themselves from mass murderers like the one who struck VA Tech Monday. "The only schools and universities where these tragedies have been stopped abruptly were the places where law-abiding citizens had a gun that was accessible to them and they were able to stop the shooter," Pratt noted. "The schools and universities that had to wait for the police to arrive, those are the ones that find these high death tolls.

"It's just a real shame," he concluded, "that these guys never get it."

This article is so right. The liberals, of course, will continue not to “get it”. Some of them are dewy-eyed dreamers who believe you can keep guns out of criminals’ hands if you just pass enough laws. Others do understand the point, but have no desire for Americans to be able to defend ourselves. If we’re not helpless and defenseless, we’ll be less likely to turn to the govt for help. And they can tyrannize us much more easily.

7
posted on 04/16/2007 1:27:30 PM PDT
by American Quilter
(You can't negotiate with people who are dedicated to your destruction.)

I hope you're right, and I hope they're aimed at every school administrator and Virginia lawmaker who ensured that the students, faculty, and administration would be helpless and defenseless. If the murderer had thought there even might be a chance that one of his victims was armed, it could have saved lives.

13
posted on 04/16/2007 1:31:31 PM PDT
by American Quilter
(You can't negotiate with people who are dedicated to your destruction.)

I would feel very uncomfortable sending my son to a campus that he felt the necessity to carry a concealed weapon for protection. It’s crazy. Although I believe people have the right to bear arms and protect themselves, it seems very sad that one has to “pack” on a campus!

"The Roanoke Times quoted VA Tech spokesman Larry Hincker as celebrating the defeat of the bill. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions," Hincker said on Jan. 31, 2006, "because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

...and so yet another liberal gets people killed, but they "felt safe" up until that point.

17
posted on 04/16/2007 1:34:07 PM PDT
by Southack
(Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)

Title 18 United States Code, U.S. Criminal Code PART I, CHAPTER 13, SECTION 242 Deprivation of rights under color of law

Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both;

and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.

After the proposal died in the state's House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety, The Roanoke Times quoted VA Tech spokesman Larry Hincker as celebrating the defeat of the bill. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions," Hincker said on Jan. 31, 2006, "because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

"Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

I first read that four hours ago. Since then I have been clicking refresh over and over like in those S. King movies.

Hinkler really should be held to account for those words. Not just embarrassed as the embodiment of the irony, that's not enough.

Pounds of flesh must be taken. He should be urged to find swift redemption..

Wrong! Their cause of death was a freak who thought it was a good idea to start executing people. Gun control, or the lack thereof, had absolutely nothing to do with the situation. Conservatives have no more business hijacking a tragedy of this sort than the gun-control advocates do trying to further crack down on guns. It's crass opportunism at its worst.

Sorry, asshat, but you are the one who is wrong. This is liberalism at it's finest and anyone who thinks otherwise is actually a liberal themselves whether they realize it or not. IF they had passed the CCW law and allowed students who have permits to carry on campus with their firearms it is highly likely this event wouldn't have occured, and if it had there is every chance in the world that some student would have shot the SOB after, or before, he killed many people. They left these people unarmed, liberals did that, and this is the consequence. Yes, the shooter is to blame for carrying out his act, but liberals are to blame that he had the chance to carry it out without opposition.

Apparently, the gentleman of Asian decent that allegedly committed this heinous act of lethal violence was not aware of VA Tech’s rules regarding weapons on campus. Otherwise, he surely would not have brought guns on to the campus.

I agree. There were likely several students that would have had an opportunity to stop this guy had they been legally armed.

40
posted on 04/16/2007 2:04:17 PM PDT
by Tenacious 1
(No to nitwit jesters with a predisposition of self importance and unqualified political opinions!)

Still waiting to see whether the wacko was an Islamofascist. The second bunch of shootings occurred in an engineering building. It is well known that foreign students from Islamic countries major in engineering in disproportionate percentages.

"The schools and universities that had to wait for the police to arrive, those are the ones that find these high death tolls. "It's just a real shame," he concluded, "that these guys never get it."

It is time to start holding officials and polititions that make innocent, honest citizens sitting ducks as much accountable as the killer. They should be charged as accessories to murder. They are just as guilty of this as if they were there and held the victims down so the killer could shoot them.

Using the power of government this is exactly what they did.

45
posted on 04/16/2007 2:10:36 PM PDT
by metalurgist
("For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" No to Rudy)

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.